Dusk Till Dawn
by ThatKindOfGirl
Summary: Twilight if Bella was less awkward and Edward was more fun. OOC AU vampirexhuman ExB Cannon couples
1. Chapter 1

The first day of school left me with my usual sense of dread. And I knew this time it would be worse. Because I was Charlie's daughter. The chief of police. At least I hadn't needed a ride to school from him in the cruiser. He got me an old truck from some friend that I was supposed to remember from summers long passed. It was loud and looked like it could break down at any second but it gave me freedom so I loved it. After that I hugged my dad for the first time since I was a little girl and had scraped my knees falling off my bike.

The school was easy to find and I picked the first spot I saw in the almost empty parking lot. I arrived half an hour early so I would have time to sign in. Charlie's vague directions said that the office was the building to my right so I entered the first one I saw and was happy to find the secretary Mrs. Cope, whose box-dye red hair I had assumed was a red balloon from across the lot. She eyed me up and down and broke out a huge smile showing a full set of yellow teeth and wafting the strong smell of stale coffee toward me. I hated coffee breath.

"Isabella! We have been expecting you! Your father is so happy to have you here. We all are. I remember seeing you when you were just a little girl with your mom. Shame what happened to her, she…" I drowned out Mrs. Cope's scratchy voice. She cleared her throat then and I could hear her swallow whatever it was that had caused her scratchiness. I resisted the urge to shudder. Instead I plastered a smile on my face and spoke in the sweet voice Samantha had used back in Phoenix when she wanted something.

"Mrs. Cope you are too kind! And can I say that your hair looks fabulous? I hope you don't mind but I'm in a bit of a hurry. See I'm new here," I laughed honestly at that. "Which you obviously know. And I would love some time to explore the campus before classes start." I showed her my blinding white teeth in return. Phil had awesome dental care plans.

She blinked at me once, then twice. I worried that I had done something wrong, I just had absolutely no interest in the town's gossip speak about my mother. Then Mrs. Cope slid all my papers towards me and said kindly, "You have a good first day hun."

The old Bella might have felt bad for interrupting Mrs. Cope, to whom I was probably to most interesting occurrence of the year, but in Phoenix I had changed. At the insistence of my mother Renee I had actually tried. Tried to be social and make friends, tried to have a good time. Of course I mainly did this because she promised me this would be our last move before college. And I needed to finally be a teenager. She had Phil now to take care of her. Not that she had made me move here. I could just tell that it was tearing her apart to have to stay home with me while Phil travelled the US with his minor baseball league. And so I decided to let the old Bella come out to play one more time, before closing that box and shoving it away forever.

I was starting as a junior so I had two years to make friends and have a great time. I had lightly coated my freakishly long but stubbornly straight lashes in mascara, and pulled on my favourite pair of black skinny jeans and a dark blue v-neck sweater. You could just see the slightest hint of cleavage. Samantha had always said to keep it classy after all. She had been my best friend in Phoenix. The first true friend I had ever had. I was sad to have parted with her, but the truth was that I had never felt a hundred percent comfortable in my role as her friend. With her I was always pretending to be more. I wasn't the old Bella but I also wasn't Samantha's Bella. I was somewhere in between. And Forks would be the perfect place to discover that person.

I walked back to my truck to grab my bag and hurried up the stairs to the school when the light drizzle turned into rain. The student parking lot had started to fill with cars and I was happy to notice that my truck didn't start out terribly. Except for a shiny silver car and what looked like a red BMW it actually fit in. Satisfied I turned and pushed on the door that clearly read pull. Before I could pull the door was pushed open from the inside and a boy with blonde hair came out backwards laughing at someone behind him. He knocked into me and I "oofed" as I fell on my ass, all of Mrs. Cope's papers landing in the puddles around me. The boy turned quickly and looked at me confused before realization dawned on his face. _Here we go._

"Ohmygosh I am so sorry Isabella." He hurriedly bent down to grab all of my things but the sodden paper ripped in his hands.

"Uhm that's okay," I blushed. At least I wasn't wearing white pants. But I was sure that my jeans were absolutely soaked and maybe even stained. Before any of us could make another move, a tiny wraith of a girl with chin length black hair came over and pulled me to my feet.

"Hi I'm Alice! You must be Isabella, you are all anyone has been talking about last week." She bent down to my papers and took the ripped ones out of the blonde boys hand. "I can ask Mrs. Cope to make copies for you if you want." Her smile was absolutely dazzling and for a second I forgot how to breathe. She definitely had a good dental plan.

"Just Bella."

Her smile grew even wider, "Okay just Bella, I have some pants in my car you can borrow, They might be a bit short but the cropped ankle look is totally in right now. I'll bring them to you so you can change and I'll get those copies for you."

Before I could even process what she said Alice was back with a pair of white jeans. Blonde boy mumbled "sorry" to me again and then took off shooting a nervous glance at Alice. Maybe he had a crush on her? She was absolutely breathtaking. If she wasn't so short I'm sure she would be walking the runways in Paris right now.

"Thanks, you didn't have too." I gingerly took the new pants out of her outstretched hands.

"Nonsense Bella! It's no problem and you'll want to make a good impression, it's your first day." She started walking back to the office then turned around and said, "first door on your left."

I picked up my backpack and walked into the school heading quickly to what I hope she meant was the closest bathroom. Thankfully it was. I took of my booties and jeans not even bothering to enter a stall before pulling on her white pants. The were a bit tight around my butt and definitely fit the cropped ankle look but I absolutely loved them. I had planned to wear white jeans with my outfit this morning but had worried that something like this would happen. I looked at my black pants and saw that the puddle I fell into was muddy and left brown stains. That would have been seriously embarrassing. I quickly turned them inside out so I wouldn't get my bag dirty and stuffed them in. Thank god for Alice. I would totally bake her some of my awesome chocolate cupcakes for this.

Just as I was leaving the bathroom the bell rang. If this was anything like Phoenix this was just the warning bell but I had no idea how things worked in a small school like Forks High. Thankfully I saw Alice right away with my new papers in her hand. She was walking with some ridiculously good looking guy with dirty blonde hair slightly longer than hers.

"Bella! Hey this is my boyfriend Jasper. Jasper meet Bella, my new best friend." I waved shyly at him and gladly accepted my papers. He smiled briefly and then walked in the other direction with a pained look on his face. I must have looked hurt because Alice quickly told me, "not to worry," and that, "Jasper was just a bit shy." Her voice was so honest that I had no trouble believing her and gladly accepted her help in finding my first class. It had been a warning bell after all. She informed me that we had lunch and last period gym together and I was relieved to know that I had already made a friend in Forks. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. My first class was English where the teacher Mr. Berty made me, to my utter horror, introduce myself to the whole class. I quickly stammered out that my name was Bella and I was new here (duh) and then sat down in my seat. After a few second of calming my racing heart I sighed. Being put on the spot was something I had never grown accustomed too. I was much more normal if I had a few seconds to collect my thoughts first.

The blonde boy who knocked me over this morning was in my class. He introduced himself as Mike and apologized again. Then I caught him checking out my butt as I leaned over to grab my bag and he said that I looked hot. I blushed crimson and mumbled my thanks. At that moment I wanted to get as far away from Mike as possible. Especially because I saw the brunette that sat in front of me giving me the stink eye. But we had the next class together and I still wasn't sure of the layout of the school. Stink eye unfortunately was also in my class. Which also happens to be trig. Thankfully the teacher Mr. Varner didn't make me introduce myself. Even if I had thought of a funny line about how I liked long walks on the beach in the rain. I figured it was appropriate for Forks weather. The class passes slowly and I already knew that this hour would become the bane of my existence. Next was lunch to which Mike invited me to sit with "them" which I assumed included stink eye, who I now knew was Jessica Stanley, because her face turned bright red and she made a little squeaking noise. I politely declined saying that Alice had already invited me, which was technically a lie but she was the one who mentioned that we had lunch together and that I was her "new best friend."

Jessica gawked at me. "Alice _Cullen?!"_ I feigned nonchalance and shrugged my shoulders. Hopefully I hadn't made a mistake by telling them that. Maybe we didn't have lunch together or maybe she never ate in the cafeteria. There had to be some reason why Jessica was so shocked. Before I could doubt myself more I turned on my heel and walked out of trigonometry.

I decided to look for my locker first so that I wouldn't get to lunch before Alice. My lock was old and rusty and didn't work until the fifth try but I finally got it open. I put a few papers inside and then locked it back up. No one was left in the halls so I wasn't sure which way the cafeteria was but a assumed it was at the other end of the building where I had seen Mike and Jessica go. The mindless chatter was easy to follow and I quickly found myself standing at the entrance to the caf. I scanned the room looking for Alice but couldn't see her anywhere. Mike and Jessica were sitting at one of the large tables with a few students that I recognized from my morning classes. My heartbeat sped up. Maybe Alice hadn't invited me to lunch with her. I quickly checked again but I couldn't find her or her boyfriend Jasper anywhere in the room. They definitely would have stood out with their ridiculously good looks.

I could eat lunch in my car. As soon as the thought entered my head I shook it back out. This was just the universe's way of punishing me for lying. Mike seemed nice enough, a bit too nice in fact, so I walked over to his table before I could lose my nerve and tapped him on the shoulder. Six heads shot up to look at me.

"Hey Mike do you think I could sit with you?" I could feel my cheeks heating up. A smug smile played on his face before he pulled out the chair beside him.

"Yeah totally Bella, you can sit next to me."

A girl I don't know giggled, then leaned over to Jessica and whispered loud enough for all of us to hear. "I guess Bella didn't get the memo that she wasn't cool enough to sit with the Cullen's."

My already prominent blush spread down my chest is red splotches.

"So Bella what are your other classes?" I quickly sat down and smiled relieved at Mike, I could have kissed him right now, ... or maybe shaken his hand politely. After checking my schedule and pulling out my pre-packed lunch I rattled off that I had Bio and Gym left, at which point a small groan left me, and a big smile lit up Mike's face reminding me of a golden retriever that just spotted his owner holding a tennis ball.

"Hey Bella those are the same classes I have! This is like fate we can sit together all day." I cringed inwardly and shot him a polite smile. _This is not the kind of puppy I want._

I was introduced to the rest of the table where I met Lauren who had made the snide comment about me to Jessica, Angela who waved shyly with a book in her hand and the two other boys that sat at our table Erik and Tyler.

"Cute glasses Angela," I grinned. "Isn't Sarah J Maas a genius?"

Angela beamed back at me excitedly. "Thanks Bella. I love her books." She paused. "I think I'm in your English and gym class as well." I wanted to hug her. I told her that was great and asked if I could sit next to her in English tomorrow. That way I could at least get Mike off my back for one class.

DTD

Lunch passed uneventfully after that. I finished my stir fry that I had made the night before and packed up my bag. When the warning bell rang I escaped Mike by claiming that I needed to use the washroom. He quickly explained where the science wing was and I smiled in thanks. In the washroom I quickly peed having realized that needing to use the washroom was not a lie after all; and washed my hands. I pulled a stray hair off my shoulder and looked in the mirror. My blush and red splotches had completely disappeared. Grabbing my backpack off the floor I made my way to biology just as the second bell rang. Every student turned to look at me from their seats and Mr. Banner shook his finger at me.

"Ms. Swan, I have a zero tolerance policy for tardiness. Now please get to your seat." He pointed vaguely to the back and I noticed that only a single seat was left open. As I was walking towards the spot I looked up from my feet to see who my seat partner would be. There, in the last row next to the windows, sat the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. If I could even call him a boy. He sat gracefully in his chair with his elbows resting on the desk. His copper unruly hair was thick and begged to have fingers be run through it. I imagined that this was exactly what cosmo was describing when they talked about sex hair. This man, for he looked far older than a high school student, was an absolute god. His long fingers drummed on the desk and he turned to look towards me. To piercing black eyes looked straight into my soul. My breath caught and at that moment my feet tangled and with horror I realized that I was falling.

I saw a god, and I tripped. His face twisted into a look of disgust. If I were a god I would be disgusted too. I landed hard on my hands and knees, the shock vibrating through my skeleton. My hair fell in a curtain around my face and I bit my lip looking up at the god through my lashes. His mouth had fallen open slightly, his eyes glazing over. The strap of my bag had pulled down the shoulder of my sweater and the top of my pink lace bra, as well as much more cleavage than I had intended, was out for the world to see. For a moment all I could do was stare at him. Then his eyes snapped up to mine from my chest. Again I felt as if the world stopped. Good thing I was already on the ground because otherwise I would have fallen to me knees all over again. _Let me worship you_.

That thought brought me back to reality and I quickly pulled up my sweater. I sat down next to him. His whole body had gone tense, both of his hands clenched tight into fists. I peeked at him through my hair and saw that he was staring straight ahead. He looked as though he wasn't even breathing. My heart started to race. Had I done something to offend him? Surely me making a fool of myself didn't warrant this. The tell tale feel of tears pricked my eyes and I blinked as fast as I could to make it go away. _It's from my fall. I am not crying because some boy won't look at me._ I sighed. He was no boy, and I was definitely lying to myself.

Mr. Banner droned on through the rest of the period but I couldn't concentrate on anything other than the wave of hate I felt rolling off of him. It felt as if two weeks had passed by the time the bell rang. He was packed and out of the door before it even stopped ringing. I slowly packed up my bag and pulled it over my shoulder. Mike and Jessica were waiting for me when I turned around.

"You ok there Bella? That looked like it hurt." He gently rubbed my arm. I stepped away slowly so that I wouldn't hurt his feelings.

Before I could answer Jessica piped, "Which part? Where she fell or where Edward Cullen looked like he wanted to kill her?"

I blushed _again_. _Today is not my day._ "I'm fine really," I smiled fakely. "Let's head out to the gym."

DTD

The girls changing room was filled with chattering teenagers. Jessica quickly explained what happened in biology, both the fall and about Edward Cullen. _Edward Cullen. So he's Alice's brother. Good genes must run in the family._

Angela stood beside me as Coach Clapp took roll call. "Don't worry about Edward. He's always been a bit unfriendly." Her smile was probably meant to be reassuring. But by "a bit unfriendly" I doubt she meant looking at people like he wanted to eat them alive.

As gym continued on, from which I was excused from today due to my lack of exercise clothes, I remembered that Alice was supposed to be in my class. Maybe I could ask her what her brothers deal was. But as I looked around the room she was nowhere to be found. Doing so made me look at Mike right as he turned around. He smiled and waved. "Hey Bella!" And for a second I thought Jessica was going to hit him with her badminton bat. I didn't wave back. Alice must have gone home sick before lunch. There was no reason for her to lie to me about her schedule.

DTD

The drive from the school was only about fifteen minutes and I was glad to be home. The crappy radio in my truck didn't work so all I had were my thoughts. And all I thought about was him. His eyes more specifically. And how they had devoured me whole.

If I were in Phoenix my mom would have been waiting for me at the door ready to hear about all the tribulations of my first day. But I was in Forks, and after a day like today, that suited me just fine. I couldn't even make sense of what had happened myself, let alone been able to explain it to my mom.

There was still rice left over from when I had made the stir fry yesterday, so I just heated up some beans and put a sweet potato in the microwave. It was 7 pm now and Charlie would be home any second. The microwave finally beeped after minutes that only felt longer when I was forced to do physical exercise. _Or have Edward Cullen stare at you_. My expression turned sullen. Just then I heard Charlie unlock the front door and come inside.

"Bella?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah dad it's me." And then softly, "who else?" As he came through the door the smell of pizza assaulted my nose.

"I'll just make a bowl for myself and join you on the couch?" I smiled convincingly

"Yeah Bella that would be great." I heard him shuffle into the living room and turn on the sports channel. It had only been two weeks and I was already dying of boredom from watching men in uniforms perform team sports together. Though to be honest I had been this bored on the first day too. _But it makes Charlie happy._ I added all the ingredients to my bowl adding a generous serving of salsa and avocado on top and joined Charlie on the couch. I focused on my food while I could and then brought my dish and Charlie's half eaten pizza into the kitchen. I grabbed two glasses of water and quickly downed mine before bringing Charlie one to the coffee table. He thanked me without looking away from the tv. Then I sat back down beside him. Another ten minutes passed. When I figured I had spent enough time in the same room with him to get my "good daughter" points I mumbled about having to do laundry and went upstairs. Still crumpled in the bottom of my bag were my dirty jeans from this morning. _Wow that feels like a million years ago._ I took off Alice's white jeans as well and changed into some sweatpants. Grabbing both Charlie's and my laundry hamper I pulled them behind me down the stairs and into the mud room at the back. I treated my black jeans for the stains and put on a load of whites so that I could be sure her pants were ready for tomorrow. In her pocket I found a small folded up piece of paper that had a doctors appointment written on it for today at 12pm. I smiled relieved, she must have just forgotten in the morning when we met.

My mom called and I spoke to her briefly about my first day being careful to avoid anything Edward related. She laughed good heartedly when I told her I fell and wished me a good first week. "Love you baby girl." Tears pricked my eyes, "Love you too mama."

I put on another load of laundry making sure to let Alice's pants air dry as they looked expensive. The tag read rag & bone which sounded like exactly the kind of jeans that should not be put in the dryer. Lastly I made a small batch of double chocolate cupcakes, setting them on top of the oven to cool before heading to bed.

Tomorrow was a new day.

But tonight, I dreamt of Edward Cullen

all

night

long.


	2. Chapter 2

My second day at school went exceptionally better. For one it wasn't raining, though the constant cover of clouds was still there. I got to school on time, even though I left ten minutes later than I had planned to finish putting the icing on my cupcakes. And lastly I remembered that the door read pull not push and I didn't even fall once.

I made it to English just as the second bell rang, waving to Alice quickly, who was grinning at me like a Cheshire Cat from across the hall, and sat down next to Angela. English and surprisingly even Trigonometry flew by. I walked quickly to my locker getting it open in only three tries this time and pulled out a small bag and the container of cupcakes. I figured if Alice didn't want all of them I could offer them to Mike's lunch table on my way out.

This time when I entered the cafeteria I found Alice immediately. Along with four other gods. One of them I recognized as Alice's boyfriend and the scowling one was Edward. But I would have known he was there even if if my eyes were closed; the pull in my stomach was undeniable. Next to Edward sat a beautiful leggy blonde. She was by far the most striking girl I had ever laid eyes upon. Between her and Alice sat a hulk of a man, and this time I really meant man. There was no way a high school student could have that many muscles.

I must have stood there with my mouth open for too long because Alice turned towards me and smiled. Her slender fingers waved me over. I walked with my head held high until my boot hit the edge of someone's chair causing me to stumble slightly. After that I looked down, but not before I saw the smirk on Edward's face. _What a jerk._

"Hey Alice," I approached them nervously. Having this many gods and goddesses in front of you will do that to a person. A wave of calm overcame me and I smiled. I swear I heard Edward hiss, "Jasper" but when I looked at him he hadn't moved. That of course was my first mistake. I knew looking at Edward would only lead to trouble but I couldn't help myself. It's as if he was a magnet and my eyes were the needle pointing north. My earlier calm dissipated slightly and the feeling in my stomach start anew. _Tell me these are not butterflies I am feeling._

My second mistake was thinking that I had any right to sit with Alice at lunch. She was obviously part of some super elitist gorgeous people only club. Thankfully Alice saved me further embarrassment, as I realized I had been mutely staring at all of them, by asking me what was in the bag.

"It's your jeans Alice. Thanks again for lending them to me yesterday. You are a real life saver." Focusing on Alice alone was a lot easier than trying to make sense of the whole ensemble. Even though she was just as beautiful as the rest, her bubbly personality drew me in.

"Oh no need for that Bella. I have like ten of those at home you can ask my brothers." My eyes shifted to look at Edward once more. He was still looking down at the tray table of food before him. "Right Emmett and Edward?" Edward didn't move and inch. Looking up I saw the big guy nod his head slowly, as if he was stretching out his neck, or trying not to scare a frightened animal with any sudden movements.

"So there you have it. Keep the jeans Bella, your butt looks better in them than mine anyway." Normally her comment wouldn't have made me blush, but the fact that Edward was sitting right there, listening to his sister talk about my butt somehow brought back the old Bella. I could still see him out of the corner of my eye when I swear I caught his eyes trailing down to my ass. When I blinked he was back to normal. "Bella?"

"Hmm?" I mumbled distractedly.

"What's in the container?" The question brought me back to reality. Alice had sounded as though she was talking through a huge smile.

"Oh uhm yeah. I made you some cupcakes. You know as a thank you." I hated that my words were so jumbled. Normally I had no problem expressing myself. _Maybe I'm getting sick. That would explain all my stomach weirdness._

Alice clapped her hands together excitedly and squealed. "You are the best Bella. This is so much better than a pair of last seasons jeans." My smile spread so wide my cheeks hurt. Alice just had that kind of infectious personality. I opened the container quickly and placed the first one in her waiting hands.

"Jasper would you like one?" He nodded slightly but didn't hold out his hand to accept it, so after a second of hesitation I set it down on the table in front of him.

Alice entwined their fingers and pointed out, "This is my brother Emmett Cullen and Rosalie Hale, she's Jasper's twin, and then you know Edward." I nodded. I wasn't sure never talking to someone and having them glare at you constitutes knowing someone but I played along. I realized then that I had never even heard him speak.

I held my open cupcake container towards Emmett. He excitedly reached in to grab one smearing most of the frosting on his hand. His smile reminded me of Alice's. Perfectly white and straight teeth. I laughed softly and I felt Edward's eyes on me. This time I was determined not to submit.

"Rosalie?" She sniffed the air delicately and then with a look of disgust so complete she could have given Edward a run for his money said simply, "I'm on a diet."

Before I could turn to Edward, Emmett shoved the entire cupcake into his mouth and spewed, "Give hun two Eddie. He'd hove to haste your hupchake." At least that's what I think he said, it really wasn't clear. Rosalie's ice mask turned into endearment and she gently wiped the crumbs from Emmett's mouth. Emmett licked her fingers _._ At least she wasn't Edward's girlfriend.

My eyebrows shot into my forehead, "You want to taste my cupcakes?" The butterflies were back. I was way too excited at the prospect of Edward wanting something that I made. Charlie told me that these tasted like little drops of heaven this morning when he stole one.

For what felt like eternity Edward didn't move. Then he turned his face towards me and almost bashfully said, "Bella," my name sounded like liquid gold rolling of his tongue, "I would love one of your homemade cupcakes." What I thought had been black eyes were actually a light topaz colour. He shot me a small smile and at this point I was convinced that they must have a dentist in the family. No one has that perfect of a smile naturally.

I felt like the grinch at the end of the movie when his heart swelled to three times the size. My pulse was racing so fast I could feel each beat in my neck, and also in a much lower area. My blush returned.

"Edward," his name sounded like exotic candy. I grabbed the second to last cupcake and handed it to him. Our fingers grazed and a spark ran up through my fingers vibrating through my body. I almost dropped the cupcake, but his hands were there ready to catch it.

I heard the scrape of a chair and just then my knees buckled and I fell backwards into it. _Did someone move the chair behind me?_ I realized that I was still staring at Edward so I quickly looked away. I took a shaky breath and pick up the remaining treat. If I didn't ask to sit with them they couldn't deny me. I don't think there was any way that I could move away from Edward at this point. _This is so silly. You don't even know him._

Jasper broke the silence first, "Thank you Bella."

"No problem Jasper."

Then Alice launched into a tale of a recent shopping trip Rosalie and her took that ended with a crying bellhop. I laughed earnestly at the story, slowly eating away at my cupcake. I never even saw Alice and Jasper eat theirs but suddenly they were done. Only Edward was taking his time breaking off little pieces and placing them between his lips. The pulse in my nether regions continued. I had never been this attracted to someone. For someone who hadn't even had their first kiss, a lot of other options were running through my mind.

I was too nervous to eat my lunch so I just sat quietly the rest of the period, listening to Alice and Emmett talk. Jasper only spoke a few words and Rosalie and Edward didn't say anything. I wondered if that was because of me.

The warning bell rang and I collected all the wrappers from the cupcakes and packed up my bag. By the time I looked up Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett had disappeared. Alice smiled at me kindly before skipping off. It was just Edward and me left.

"Bio?" My voice was squeaky. He nodded slowly and pointed for me to lead the way.

When we were almost there he whispered, "Thank you Bella. That's was… exquisite."

I held open the door for him and smiled, "Anytime."

Half way through the lesson, five completely inappropriate and improbable daydreams later, I thought of Samantha. What would she have done in this scenario? So told me that boys liked three things: food, physical touch, and a rocking bod. The first one I had already completed, and while I certainly didn't have a rocking bod, Edward had checked me out twice. I think. Our fingers touched at lunch but I hardly thought that Samantha would have counted that. Maybe I could make it happen. Before I could wig out, I, as inconspicuous as possible, pulled down the front of my grey v-neck shirt, because striking off two things from the list was always better than one, and dropped my pencil on the table so that it rolled over to Edward's side. I leaned over quickly, twisting my torso so that my body was turned towards Edward, brushed my hand against his covered bicep, which sent another spark through me, and slowly picked up my pencil. _Fuck his bicep is hard._ And then I went in for the kill. I let out a tiny content sigh. This was Samantha's personal favourite move. For her it always worked. Boys would be falling at her feet begging her for her number.

Instead what happened to me was that Edward took in a deep breath, stiffened his entire body, and _growled._ Not in a sexy way. In an I want to kill you way. An involuntary shiver ran down my spine. His hand reached up and he brushed my hair over my shoulder. My heart was beating so fast I'm sure that my pulse was visible in my now exposed neck. I clenched my thighs together and took a shuddering breath. _Why am I turned on by this?_ Just then I could hear the vibrations of Edward's phone in his pocket. He didn't answer and I felt immobilized in my precarious position. His eyes never strayed down my chest, rather he seemed to be fixated on my neck. _Is he going to kiss me?_

Mr. Banner cleared his throat at the front of the room, "Bella please sit down in your chair." I didn't move. Finally our eyes met and his previously light eyes seemed to be darkening by the second. He looked really angry. "Bella!" Mr. Banner called my name again, but it was as if I was underwater. Edward's phone began to buzz anew. He leaned slightly forward, his sweet breath wafting over my face. My heart beat at an impossible rate. When he licked his lips my body went into overdrive and did the only thing it knew how. Shut down. I fainted across the table.

DTD

My head was pounding and I could hear murmuring in the corner. I blinked my eyes open slowly, suddenly onslaught with the brightness of the fluorescent lights above me. I realized I was lying down and when I moved I heard the crinkle of paper. _Am I in the hospital?_ I sat up quickly, too quickly. The blood rushed to my head and for a second I saw black dots. Maybe I hit my head. Did I fall? _What happened?_ The murmuring stopped and I looked to my left. There, sitting on two plastic chairs that didn't deserve the honour, sat Alice and Edward. The second my eyes swept over Edward I remembered. I blushed so hard my whole face heated up. _Kill me now._ I tried to seduce Edward and then fainted. My voice trembled and I was afraid that tears were next. "Where am I?" _This is so embarrassing._

Alice answered first, "You are in the hospital Bella. You fainted at school and we drove you over. We think that you are probably okay but Edward and my dad insisted. He's a doctor."

Suddenly it all made sense, "He's a dentist right?"

Alice and Edward shared a look. "Uhm no Bella my dad Carlisle works here at the hospital." Alice reached over and patted my arm reassuringly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Really. Your dad doesn't need to come I can go home now." I slid my feet off the bed but before I could get up Edward spoke.

"I don't think that's a good idea Bella. Besides your dad is on his way."

My cheeks reddened and I mumbled quietly, "Traitor."

"What was that?" But the smirk on Edward's face told me that he heard me just fine.

Alice stood up and said to no one in particular, "I'm going to find my dad."

The silence that ensued was awkward and laden with tension. Edward broke first, "So why am I a traitor?"

I decided it was best if my eyes stayed trained on my scuffed sneakers. "Because you called Charlie. And took me to the hospital. I'm fine."

"Bella passing out for thirty minutes is not you being fine." I had to tense every muscle in my body to restrain myself from looking at him.

I wracked my brain for a suitable answer. There was no way I was admitting that he was the reason I passed out. "I have diabetes and I forgot to take my insulin shot today that's all."

"Really? Cus that's not what it says in your medical record." My mouth fell open in shock and I could no longer resist looking at him. His face looked equally smug and confused.

"You read my medical files?!" Sure having a dad for a doctor had some perks, but there's no way he should be allowed to look at my files.

"No." I let out a breath of air. "But the nurse at school didn't mention diabetes, and that would have been in your record. Plus you didn't have any medication in your bag." I opened my mouth to speak and he continued, "Before you ask, my dad told me to check. It's not normal for a healthy person to just faint like that."

"I forgot to drink water today."

This time he didn't even offer me a rebuttal. He just casually lifted one perfect eyebrow. Then I remembered that I drank an entire bottle of water when I sat at lunch with them. _Why am I such a bad liar?_ I huffed.

The door open and Alice walked back into the room, a stunning blonde doctor behind her. This was their father? Other than the fact that they were all obviously gods just posing as regular human beings none of them even looked alike. Alice was tiny with black hair, Edward had the most unusual tone of coppery hair and Emmett was absolutely massive. If anything he reminded me more of Jasper and Rosalie. Although upon further inspection I noticed that they all had very similar eye colours; the strangest shade of topaz.

"You must be Bella. I'm Carlisle." For just a moment his perfect teeth blinded me as he smiled. _Not a dentist my ass._ He walked over to me and shook my hand. Unlike Edward Carlisle's hand were quite warm. I didn't respond. His brow furrowed. "Are you feeling okay? My kids tell me that you fainted in Biology class today."

Finally I found my voice, "Uhm yeah. But I'm feeling fine now." He took out a little flashlight from the breast pocket of his lab coat that read Dr. Cullen. So he really was their father. He must have had them at 13 years old. There is no way this doctor is a day over 30. He flashed the light in both of my eyes and seemed relieved at the response.

"Physically you seem fine but I would really like to take some blood and get a workup done to see why this might have happened." He clicked off the light and put it back in his pocket. "Edward mentioned that you fell yesterday." I shot the traitor a dirty look. "Does this happen to you a lot?" From the way he phrased his question I could tell that he _had_ read my medical record. My mom used to joke that I spent more time in the emergency room than at home. Let's just say I was a bit accident prone. And born with two left feet.

"I'm a bit clumsy. And I have fainted before. It's really not a big deal. We don't need to take any _blood."_ I shot Edward a look at the b word. There was no way I wanted him to see me faint again. Blood made me extremely nauseous, it smelled of metal and rust and made me want to vomit. I suppose fainting was the better alternative of the two.

Edward gripped his seat and the plastic creaked unsettled. His dark eyes narrowed and he looked to Alice. Her lips moved so fast I almost missed it but I thought she said something like, "I don't know."

Carlisle placed a hand on my shoulder. "Bella, why is it a problem for me to take your blood?" His face was serious and his tone was devoid of all the warmth he had previously expressed easily.

"The smell." I gulped. "I think it would be too much." He looked surprised back at me.

"The smell?"

"Yeah the smell of my blood. I think…" Before I could finish my explanation, Edward stormed out of the room. Alice shot me a guilty look and chased after him. "Is the blood to much for him?" My eyebrows scrunched together. I had never met another person that shared my severe dislike for blood.

Carlisle sighed and sat in the chair that Edward had vacated. He ran his hands through his hair and then rested both elbows on his knees. When he looked up at me he appeared absolutely exhausted. "You know?"

I didn't know how to respond to his question. Did he mean if I understood his son's dislike for blood? Was it a sensitive subject? I figured in a moment like this it was always better to answer a question with another one in return.

"Is that why he left?"

Carlisle's unblinking eyes looked at mine for more than a few moments. It felt as if he was searching for something. Whatever it was he must have been satisfied because he finally answered with a simple, "Yes."

My fingers twitched. For me the sight and smell of blood got to be too much, but for Edward to feel sick at even the mention of it must be hard. Ashamed I looked down. Maybe I had judged him too soon. Obviously Edward was different from what I imagined. After all he must not want to kill me if he drove me here to the hospital. Maybe he didn't hate me at all. I could just make him nervous especially if Charlie had been telling stories about me. I'm sure the whole town knew how much of a hopeless klutz I was. _That's why he looked so mad when you fell dummy. He was scared you would bleed and expose him._

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to expose him." In these scenarios it was always best to be honest. For some reason I really liked the Cullen's and I didn't want their dad to hate me because I made his son uncomfortable.

"How?"

"How do I know?" Carlisle nodded. "To be honest I just guessed. I had heard of others… like him." _What do you even call us?_

Suddenly Carlisle left out a soft laugh. "Your heart is beating completely steady." Confused I nodded. _This doctor is freaking good._ "Are you not scared at all?" _Were we still talking about blood?_

"Now? Not at all. But I would really prefer if you didn't take my blood today. I'm really fine."

He nodded once, "I understand. But I just want you to know Bella, that my family and I, we are different. We aren't like the others out there." He paused often during his explanation.

For the first time in five minutes I understood what he was saying. "I know." The Cullen's were really different. It wasn't just their looks, it was the aura they exuded and they way they held themselves. I smiled at him genuinely. Maybe if he was telling me this, it meant that he was accepting me as his kids friend. After all, I understood why the Cullen's kept to themselves considering how everyone in Forks treated them.

He turned his head towards the door. "I think your dad is here now." _How does he know that?_ "But Bella I just want you to know that we really are different. My family likes to joke that we are vegetarians because we don't harm humans." He looked at me to see if I understood and honestly at that moment I was more confused than ever.

"That's good, I guess?"

"Really Bella you don't have to be afraid of us. But I hope you understand my need for discretion." Carlisle pleaded. He had shifted forward so his breath swept over me as Edward's had done before. _They smell so similar._ I blushed, took in an unsteady breath and nodded. I wouldn't tell anyone what Carlisle said. Partly because I honestly didn't even know what we were talking about anymore, so I said the one thing I could think of.

"I'm vegan myself." Carlisle laughed so hard he bent over in his chair. For a second I thought he was going to start crying. Just then Alice entered the room with a smile.

"Your dads signing your discharge papers out front Bella." I hopped off the bed and patted Carlisle reassuringly on the back. It was surprisingly cold compared to the warm handshake I received earlier. He still had a huge grin on his face and at that moment I decided that he couldn't be older than 25.

I passed Alice and she gently grabbed my arm. "Thanks Bella. For understanding and for not telling anyone. I know you won't do that."

I smiled, "I would never."

DTD

Charlie was hovering. And I absolutely hated it. When we got home I ate my untouched lunch and drank about a litre of water. Apparently Dr. Cullen had told him I was simply dehydrated. I officially loved him. Never had a doctor lied for me before. After an hour of TV with Charlie and about seven pee breaks I told him I was tired and headed upstairs. As it was only the second day of school we didn't have any homework so I grabbed a book of my shelf and tried to distract myself by reading a few chapters. When I found myself re reading the same sentence over and over I put it down. The conversations I had with Dr. Cullen played on a loop in my head. _Maybe they are just a bit different. That's what he seemed to be trying to tell you anyway. Why else wouldn't every girl in Forks be hanging off Edwards every word?_ When I could no longer take it I walked back downstairs. Charlie was still up watching a basketball game on espn.

"Dad?" He grunted. "I met Dr. Cullen today. He's the father of two of my classmates Alice and Edward."

"Yeah I know the Cullen's Bella," distracted by the tv he continued, "To be honest I was a bit worried when I heard a young doctor and his wife were moving to Forks with five adopted kids. But those kids have never given me any trouble. They are all very polite, more than I can say for some of the kids that have lived here their entire lives."

"Five kids?" He muted the tv and turned his body towards me.

"Yeah they are all in your school. The blonde twins, that big guy, the ginger and Alice who brought you to the hospital today." I bristled at that. Edward is _not_ a ginger. Rosalie and Jasper must be adopted too. I knew Dr. Cullen was too young to have given birth to Edward.

"Why? Did someone say something? Honestly sometimes I understand why your mother left. This town is full of gossips and paranoids. You should hear what they say about the Cullen's down in La Push." Charlie abruptly stopped speaking then, as if worried he'd said to much. Then he sighed, took a swig of his beer, and continued earnestly, "They are truly kind people. Dr. Cullen is an amazing doctor that could make much more money in a big city. I guess lucky for us that his wife Esme wanted to live in a small town."

"No. Nobody said anything. I just noticed today that they kind of keep to themselves." I took a few steps into the kitchen then added, "Thanks dad." I don't think I had ever heard my dad speak so much in my life. The Cullen's must really not be treated well. I decided then that I would try and become friends with all of them, if there was one thing that I understood well it was being an outsider. Not that I was being completely selfless, I was obviously very attracted to Edward and I would have done anything to get to know him better.

As I lay in bed that night I thought of a plan. Tomorrow I would force Edward to be my friend. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.


End file.
